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Preview: Combat in Batman: Arkham City

If you're anything like us, you've been wetting the Batman-shaped bed's Batman sheets out of excitement over Arkham City's impending release. It's less than a month away! We've already given you our salutes to the upcoming sequel's ever-expanding list of villains, and we've provided you an Arkham-themed playlist to kill the time. But now, our sheets have dried, we've pounded a couple Monster energy drinks, and we're ready to rumble. It's time to talk Arkham Asylum's nearly flawless combat system, and how it'll be improved upon in Batman: Arkham City.

Combat in Arkham Asylum was instantly approachable but difficult to master. At its core was the FreeFlow Combat System, which, in addition to sounding like something white kids do while driving around listening to T-Pain, was a deceptively deep (and impressively animated) way for Batman to beat suckas' asses. It perfectly captured the feeling of what a fight as Batman must "really" be like: predicated on stealth and oozing rhythm, allowing you to take on hordes of punks while still feeling completely in control of the situation. It was also detailed enough to show Batman blocking each individual kick and punch, while incorporating a counter system that'd fit right into a Tekken game. Here's our look at how the bar is being raised in the sequel. Whoop, time to change our sheets again.

1. The Thugs Aren't As Polite

The thugs in Arkham City will find you... in droves.

Arkham Asylum did a sublime job of setting the atmosphere of Batman's world, but a common complaint was its corridor-heavy level design, which affected combat. Most fights took place in narrow spaces, even when Batman was stalking his prey from many a conveniently placed stone gargoyle. To keep up with how much more space there is in Arkham City, the enemies are stepping up their game as well. As Rocksteady showed in the E3 demo, these pesky criminals have decided to stop waiting around. Now they attack Batman Double Dragon-style: in droves. And they aren't gonna take a number to wait and get their femurs pulverized, either. Batman's total number of animations has been doubled for the sequel, which means he should ably keep pace with them, but he'll have to claw his way to every victory.

Combo-fixated players have reason to rejoice as well: The upside of various henchmen coming after Batman all at once means you'll be able to juggle multiple combos at the same time in your quest to send as many villains to the ER as possible. Wait, does Batman ever call for a med-evac for these guys, or does he just leave them to fester in a pool of their own defeat and stinky urine stains?

2. The Bat-Gadgets Are In Play Now

The Grappling Gun grabs more than ledges.

To paraphrase Jack Nicholson's Joker, "Where are all of those wonderful toys during battle?" In Arkham Asylum, they were -- aside from the explosive gel -- mostly tucked snugly away in Batman's custom-made corset, but Rocksteady has made it known that's not the case in Arkham City. The grappling hook plays a greater role in navigating the city's rooftops, sure, but a new move in Batman's arsenal involves yanking a punk over, Scorpion-style, with the grapnel, blasting him with explosive gel, then kicking him into a pack of dopes, and finally sailing off into the inky blackness. The only way this could be made more badass is if Batman flicks on a pair of BluBlockers and 'Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta' plays while your enemies pee themselves and explode in a presumably non-lethal blast. Remember, Batman doesn't kill people... he just beats them within nanometers of their lives.

3. You'll Never Walk Alone

Meow, Catwoman, me-ow.

We know Batman fights on his own -- at least through the main story campaign -- but he will be joined by a couple of old allies this time through. Catwoman, his occasional enemy, occasional love interest, and perpetual runner-up in the Best Ass in Comics Contest, will be getting in on the butt-kicking action, as will Robin (v. Tim Drake), Batman's youthful sidekick -- at least for the Challenge mode.

How exactly your allies will fight compared to Batman himself isn't totally clear yet: Catwoman certainly makes use of deft leaping and leg holds, compared to Batman's more solid, boot-to-the-groin tactics. (In a guided private E3 demo, she was shown scaling the freaking ceiling to pounce on fools. Jaw, meet floor.) And we're betting Robin will occupy a middle ground between Catwoman's litheness and Batman's muscle. Whatever the case, we're looking forward to rupturing a few bladders with some different techniques in Arkham City.

4. Fly Around

Incoming!

While Arkham Asylum allowed Batman to glide, Arkham City promises to allow the Caped Crusader to actively soar on gossamer (or, you know, some kinda space-age Mylar) wings. Not only will you be able to fly up to secret areas and to get the drop on some piss-ant bad guys, you'll also be able to use your aerobatics as an enhancer to your combat skills.

This mechanic of taking to the sky hinges on the line launcher and the Batclaw, and while there's a steep learning curve with mastering its nuances, it's well worth the time investment. By the time we completed the E3 demo we were okay at swooping up to a rooftop, then rebounding our way down and crushing some fool's larynx. If you're reading this, you likely played Arkham Asylum, so you know Batman moves like an Abrams tank. Making him more airborne adds an oddly addictive wrinkle to the flow of things, and it offers the one thing missing from Pilotwings: Kicking people's eyeteeth in.

With all the things Arkham Asylum had going for it, perhaps the only one it really lacked was solid replay value. Fortunately, Arkham City, will feature a "New Game+" mode, that will allow you to start the game from the beginning, keeping all the gadgets and experience you've earned in your first playthrough, and facing off against tougher enemies. And not just tougher ones, but enemies that are in different locations from the ones you remember, and who will come at you in different ways. This is designed to force you to think laterally -- using your gadgets and toughness gives you an advantage, but you've gotta use your brain, too, or you'll get overwhelmed. Did we mention bosses will be even more difficult, with new attack patterns and upgraded AI? Oh yeah, New Game+ makes Arkham City so addicting you won't even have time to get up for a pee break.

So there you go: five ways one of the best action-adventure titles of all time is sure to be even better this time around. You've still got about a month to wait -- maybe it's time to reinstall Arkham Asylum and practice some of those old techniques? You're going to be building on that foundation for all of Arkham City, after all.

Spy Guy says: Batman: Arkham Asylum has to be one of the most watchable videogames of all time. Even if you weren't at the controls, seeing Bats do his tumbling, punching, leaping, kicking dance was a sight to behold. We can't wait to see the new and improved version in action.